SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gusties were in full form following their impressive sixth-place finish in the ITA Men's Indoor Championships the weekend before. Rolling to a 9-0 sweep of Hamline and an 8-1 win over Luther, the Gusties improve their record to 10-4 overall and 4-0 in the MIAC.
The Gusties opened with a MIAC sweep of Hamline to start the day, rolling past the Pipers 9-0 – their fourth perfect MIAC victory of the season.
Luke Haddorff (Fy., Burnsville) had a perfect day for the Gusties, going 8-0 in the doubles with partner
Justin Sehlin (Sr., Bettendorf, Iowa) and sweeping Hamline's Zach Irrthum in the No. 6 singles spot with two 6-0 scores.
Rafael Costa (So., Sao Paulo, Brazil) led off for the Gusties in the No. 1 spot with 7-5 and 6-0 victories.
Taona Mhwandagara (So., Harare, Zimbabwe) also finished with a perfect sweep in the No. 4 singles spot with a pair of 6-0 victories.
Against Luther, the Norse managed one point against the Gusties, as the No. 1 doubles pair defeated
Nick Aney (Sr., Rochester) and
Daniel Fouchier (Sr., Nootdorp, Netherlands) by a tight 8-7 score. The Gusties were perfect the rest of the way to claim the regional victory, including a 7-5 and 6-4 victory in the No. 1 singles spot from Aney, who defeated Luther's Luke Westholder — the nationally-ranked No. 14 singles player.
"The guys played two solid matches today, said Head Coach Tommy Valentini. "We competed well in both singles and doubles and we're thankful for the results. We had our entire squad competing on court in one capacity or another, and it was great to see them embrace the competition and support each other.
"We'll look to continue to grow from here and to an exciting series of challenges at home and on the road at the Stag-Hen next week."
The Gusties are back for a busy weekend next week, sending a team to the Stag-Hen Invitational, hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Gusties will also host Iowa Central on Friday and send a group to Fargo, N.D. to face Concordia Saturday.
